Sammy Sosa's big bat could be a boost for the Bronx Bombers.

But to those who haven't followed the strange soap opera of Sammy and the Cubs, what hasn't been clear is why all this is happening. Well, that's where we come in. It's time to turn the defogger on some of the misconceptions about a situation that is undoubtedly going to end with this team trading its most popular player in a generation.

Misconception No. 1: Sammy is "forcing" the Cubs to trade him.

Ask yourself a question: Why would this player possibly want to leave this team? The eight-plus seasons Sosa has spent as a Cub have been the best years of his life. Ask anyone who knows him, and they will tell you he still wants to be a Cub -- this year, next year, for the rest of his career.

As recently as Sunday, one of his agents, Adam Katz, said: "If they want him to be a Cub forever, they can do that."

But the fact is, the Cubs obviously don't want that. They want to go younger. They want to go cheaper. The baseball people we talk to say they don't merely want to trade Sosa. They want to trade just about every veteran player who can get them any decent young talent in return.

That's where all this is leading. It's just that they can trade most of those other players -- Ismael Valdes, Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera, Henry Rodriguez -- and no one in Chicago will blink, wince or miss a bite of stuffed pizza. But Sammy is another matter. So it's in the Cubs' best interests to make it appear their star wants out.

Except he doesn't. Still.

Misconception No. 2: It's all about the money.

No one in the Cubs organization has said this on the record. But the Cubs brass sure hasn't dissuaded anyone in Chicago from thinking Sosa is only interested in being the highest-paid player in baseball.

The suggestion, then, is that this whole controversy has been trumped up by Sosa in an effort either to pressure the Cubs into signing him to a big extension or to trade him to a team that will.

The fact is, though, Sosa has always indicated to the Cubs he would take less money to stay in Chicago -- not as little as Ken Griffey took to be a Red maybe, but nothing historic, either. He's still waiting for an offer. And if the Cubs wanted him, now would be the logical time to make that offer. Wouldn't it?

Katz isn't discussing the specifics of any of this. But he did say Sunday: "This is when you have to do these kinds of things, for a lot of reasons. I don't believe it's economic. Obviously, a lot of money is at stake. But this is primarily a baseball issue, not an economic issue. They're the ones who have to decide if they want him to be part of the program or not."

Misconception No. 3: Sosa is just pouting over being criticized by his manager.

It is certainly within Don Baylor's right -- or within any manager's right -- to ask a player to do things differently. But when a manager is finding fault with his biggest star on the manager's first day on the job, would anyone expect his player not to wonder what's going on?

And when a manager continues to find fault with his biggest star and repeatedly airs his complaints publicly, wouldn't it seem logical that it would be only a matter of time before the player decided to respond just as publicly?

That's how this situation came to this. It's that simple. What's unclear is whether Baylor was simply speaking for himself or whether Cubs management, knowing it wasn't going to be able to sign its most popular player, endorsed those comments to make it more palatable to its fan base when it actually had to trade away that player?

We'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on this one.

Misconception No. 4: Sosa is unduly pressuring the Cubs by using his impending free agency (after 2001) and his "10-and-5" trade-veto rights to force this issue.

Hey, rights are rights. That's the way of the world. Again, ask yourself a question: Have you ever heard of a player eligible for, say, arbitration who chose not to use that right as leverage? Have you ever heard of anyone who was offered any right and turned it down?

So just because Sosa is a year-and-a-half from free agency, wondering where he'll spend the rest of his career, and using his 10-and-5 rights to help resolve this situation, how exactly does that make him the great manipulator?

It's that combination of circumstances that has brought this situation to a head, true. But just as Sosa can use his right to veto any deal to protect himself, the Cubs need only to review the Griffey files to know their time to move on this is right now.

"We all saw what happens if you wait to the last season to trade a star like this if he has veto rights, in terms of getting full value," one prominent baseball man said Sunday. "So the ball's in the Cubs' court."

And with every day that goes by, it becomes more clear which end of that court they intend to score in.

Misconception No. 5: Sosa only wants to go to the Yankees or Mets.

A variety of baseball sources indicate the Yankees and Mets have been the two most active teams on the Sosa market so far. But unlike Griffey, Sosa hasn't issued any ultimatums about where he wants to go -- and apparently has no plans to do so. He will use his trade-veto rights to protect himself only if he has to.

"Who the Cubs talk to is strictly up to the Cubs," said another of Sosa's agents, Tom Reich. "And where Sammy agrees to go is strictly up to him. So obviously, this has to be a cooperative thing. But I expect it will be."

The three most logical teams in the Sosa market still figure to be the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox. But there are indications as many as three other mystery teams might have interest.

The Yankees have the prospects to deal, the money to sign him and a close relationship between Reich and George Steinbrenner to make it all come together. The Yankees also would be motivated to get heavily involved just because the Mets and Red Sox -- two of Steinbrenner's chief obsessions -- figure to get Sosa if the Boss doesn't.

The Mets might be a more logical fit in other ways. With so many key free agents, they might believe this is their year to go for it all. GM Steve Phillips already has put together two blockbuster prospect-for-star mega-deals in his tenure -- for Mike Piazza and Mike Hampton. And Sosa's long-term presence would make the Mets an attraction next year even if they were still retooling around him.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are just five years removed from having a signed contract with Sosa voided because of strike ramifications. They need one more thumper in their lineup. And they, too, have plenty of prospects to trade.

But Sosa apparently hasn't limited his interest to just those three teams. So get ready for some possible surprises. Anything could happen at any time.

"I expect the Cubs to talk to anybody they think is seriously interested," Reich said. "In a perfect world, Sammy would have liked to stay. But they're going in a different direction ... so wherever he goes, the sooner the better."